Needn't panic, all global airlines face snags, says DGCA chief Arun Kumar

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, August 7

Alerts being issued by the safety mechanism provided in an aircraft for averting accidents should not be seen as a disorder, says Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Kumar amid a series of incidents of technical snags and bird-hits in planes in recent past.

Part of safety apparatus

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Foreign carriers operating in India also report snags, which are attended and rectified… No need to fret plane diversions or emergency landings. Arun Kumar, DGCA Chief

• 12 aircraft grounded after technical snags in July
• 5 bird-hits reported since June; two this week

In an exclusive interaction with The Tribune, the DGCA Director General says snags are routine and common to all airlines and fleet across the world. “Foreign carriers operating in India also report snags, which are attended and rectified,” he says.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Lok Sabha during the ongoing monsoon session that in July itself, the DGCA grounded 12 aircraft following technical discrepancies. Since June, there have been at least five incidents of bird-hits, including two reported this week.

The DGCA chief says safety manoeuvres such as emergency landing, aborting take-off, etc, were part of the safeguards provided as protection against accident. “There should not be uproar if a plane is diverted for an unscheduled halt after the discovery of a snag or a bird-hit forces the crew to cut short the onward journey and return to the airport from where the plane had taken off,” he says.

Acknowledging the recent instances of turn-backs, abandoned take-offs, emergency landing and cancellation due to snags, Kumar says none of these incidents were of serious nature. In most cases, trouble-shooting was all the pilots were required to do to bring the situation under control, he maintains.